His Promise
by Sevvie.Rose
Summary: James Potter has only cried twice in his life time. Written by Sevvie! I do not own HP - borrowing the characters.
1. Quote

"This is what love meant after all: sacrifice and selflessness. It did not mean hearts and flowers and a happy ending, but the knowledge that another's well-being is more important than one's own."


	2. Part One

James Potter considered himself strong. Those around him considered him strong. He was a leader, and even in the darkest of times, he was the type to stay positive and ready to move on. No matter what he was against, or who; he could pass it, for not only did he have his followers, but he also had his friends—no, brothers, his family. And no matter what obstacle lied ahead, he would not show fear nor back down, for with those two things: He could take the world on headfirst.

Growing up, he could be described easily as vain, spoiled, arrogant, rebellious, immature, self-centered, stubborn, and pretentious. Until he met her; Lily Evans, the woman who made him see he was not – no matter how hard he tried – the center of the universe. That he was a spoiled brat, who got everything he wanted, that is except her. When and only when, he found out this was all true and changed his ways, did he get her. His life, true, changed drastically, but he liked to think for the better.

He pondered over all this as he stared out the window, watching the snow slowly fall to the earth and spread out in a pure blanket across the dirty streets. It was odd, he pondered. In his lifetime, he could only remember crying, really crying, two times. Both times in such a short amount of time, and both when he least expected it. He'd always considered crying a weakness, something men would never do unless they were weak. Maybe he was weak. He was scared, if that counted.

His forehead hit the cold window, and his hand rose to touch the glass, slowly sliding down and making an annoying squeaking sound which fell upon deaf ears as he watched through blurred vision as a family of muggles made their way down the street of Godric's Hollow. He wanted that. The secure feeling one would have to walk down the street in the middle of the night with one's family. He hoped to have it after the war was over, but little did he know, that he would never have that. For on this night, he and his wife would be dead.


	3. Part Two

"Pregnant…" He whispered for the tenth time in the last five minutes. His hand had found its way to rest on her stomach; sure, he couldn't feel any fluttering or even magic from its core yet, but just to know that inside her stomach was a baby, his baby. Well, that was the most amazing feeling in the world. He was literally left in awe. A pallid hand came to rest over his, and involuntarily, his turned face-up to hold her much smaller hand into his own.

His burnt umber eyes rose to meet her glistening emerald. "Why are you crying?" He whispered.

"I'm not crying." She denied, sniffling.

"Lily…"

"James, we're in the middle of a war. We're both working for the Order. I've been reading the Daily Prophet every day, and—"

"No," He said harshly. "I'll never let anything happen to you, this baby, or our family." He promised. He knew it was a promise he'd never be able to keep, one cannot prevent what is inevitable from happening. But damn it, he'd die before harm was brought to anyone he cared about. To anyone he could protect. To her.

"The prophecy…"

"Don't."

"We can't just ignore this, James!" Lily shouted, her face flushing with anger. "We're adults now! This isn't like in school, when if we didn't study for a test, and we fail it then it's no big deal. If we fail at this test, it's our lives, or worse; the baby's life…"

"We'll go away then. We'll… I have enough money in Gringotts. We'll withdraw it all and leave in the morning. Just pack a bag each and… and move to another country."

"James…" She smiled sadly. "And what about: Peter, Sirius, and Remus?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line. "They'll be our pets. Remus can be our crazy neighbor."

She rolled her eyes. "James… if any of them is going to be the crazy neighbor, it's going to be Sirius."

James snorted. "You're right." He quickly added on: "You always are, you know." -In a whisper; intertwining their fingers.

She smiled softly, raising her free hand to cup his cheek, her thumb rubbing soothing circles. "I love you, James."

"I love you, too, more than anything."

She released his hand so he could go back to rubbing it in circles on her stomach, a goofy grin playing out on his face that made him look like he was sixteen again and ready to take on the world. She relaxed into the sofa and watched his face as he stared with what she assumed was an awe-inspiring with a hint of apprehension expression. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath her breathing began to even out and become even shallower with each inhale.

She cracked an eye open when she felt his hand stop rubbing though it stayed in place, swallowing all fear she had due to the war and the baby's welfare when she saw her husband, grin still in place, and not one but two tears falling down his face. Her hand raised and her thumb wiped the tears away, his head pushing into the palm for comfort before he reached over to place a kiss to her lips.

That kiss a promise that he would do as he said: Keep not only her safe, but their children, their family.


	4. Part Three

He took a deep breath, his eyes closing as his hand finally reached the bottom of the window to rest on the windowsill, tears now staining his cheeks. He knew he had to be strong, not for himself or his manhood, but for her and their son together. They were his everything. They were the only reason he got up in the morning. Without them his life, while it would possibly a bit safer, would be pointless.

He pushed off the window and raised his hands, wiping his cheeks clean, collecting himself before turning on his heel and heading downstairs to where Lily was making dinner in the kitchen and Harry was happily babbling on in his playpen. He made his way over to the playpen and pressed a kiss to Harry's mop of black hair that he had inherited from James. The boy simply looked up with his mother's eyes and gave James' goofy grin at the spot of his father.

"James, I could use a bath. Do you mind finishing up supper?"

James made his way into the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. "'Course I will."

"Good, and don't burn anything. That chicken needs to come out in exactly thirteen minutes, if you grab it out a minute late, I'll know." She said as she removed the cooking glove and sat it down on the counter, walking over to him and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Got it, Potter?"

"Of course, Evans," he purred, cupping her cheek and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. As the kiss broke, he lingered for a moment, his eyes closed. "I love you."

"And I you, Potter."

They released from the closeness they were giving to one another, Lily going into the living room and James stepping the remainder of the way into the kitchen. He jokingly pondered removing the chicken two minutes late just to see his wife huff at him, however he didn't get the chance to do so or decide against for at that moment he felt the wards being breached.

He dropped the cooking glove he picked up to the floor and hurried over to the living room, his gaze meeting Lily's for a brief moment, apprehension glistening in both their eyes. He shook it off momentarily and hurried over to the window, staring out it and watching the black robed figure came slowly towards the door. His heart sunk.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off—" James began and was interrupted by the sound of the front door lock popping open. He watched in slow motion as she hurried out of view and over to Harry's playpen, grabbing their son and running into up the second set of stairs. The only thing he heard from then on was his heavy breathing as he pulled his wand out of his holster and sent a Bombarda spell at the wall next to the first set of stairs and the door, the explosion breathing the wall and the ceiling or floor of the upstairs bathroom.

He rushed over and just in time to cause the spell sent at him – looked like a Crucio – to miss. He ran over to the doorway in which Lily ran through, turning towards him and staring at the black figure. His heart beat raced in fear or adrenaline, and his wand hand rose involuntarily in front of him, shooting out another Bombarda before swishing and flicking his hand to lift the sofa and throw it at the figure. Both spells were either avoided or blast back into the wall and so began the battle.

Both parties shot out a spell, which met in the middle, both wands pushing back with force as the other tried their best to get the upper hand. Uncontrolled strands of magic shooting out of the confrontation of the spells and hitting the walls, windows, ceiling, one even shooting straight across the kitchen so all the china would explode.

James flicked his wrist to send the two spells flying to the side, causing Voldemort's to run across the ceiling, causing it to cave in. No. They were upstairs. He couldn't—James hurried up the stairs Lily had took, a small strand of happiness running through him as he noticed the hallway was undamaged. He began to make his way down the hallway, but stopped when he felt his wand forced out of his hand. He slowly turned towards the black hooded figure. No, that wasn't possible, to have gotten up there so fast.

He stood straight and took a deep breath, raising his eyes to meet the dark robed figures crimson glowing ones. As he let the deep breath out, the wand of Voldemort's was raised and out came the green curse. His life seemed to have passed by within a second, and he found that the only thing on his mind was not that he was scared of death. But that Lily and Harry would be okay. For that, he would give anything. Even his own life.

His body tensed and he felt his life-force drain as he fell to the ground, the last thing he heard before everything went black was her beautiful voice, signaling she was still in the house. He had failed at his promise.


End file.
